Touch screen panel

ABSTRACT

A touch screen panel includes: a substrate; a touch electrode layer disposed on the substrate; an insulator disposed on the touch electrode layer; an adhesive layer disposed on the touch electrode layer and exposing a portion of the insulator; and a first connector disposed on the portion of the insulator exposed by the adhesive layer. When assembled, the touch screen panel may reduce or prevent impurities, such as moisture and the like, from permeating into a touch sensing sensor, thereby reducing defects of the touch sensing sensor and enhancing durability thereof.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/864,311, filed on Sep. 24, 2015, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,061,448,which claims priority from and the benefit of Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 10-2014-0169121 filed on Nov. 28, 2014, which is hereby incorporatedby reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND Field

The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a touchscreen panel including a touch sensing sensor.

Discussion of the Background

A display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organiclight emitting diode (OLED) display, an electrophoretic display, etc.includes a field generating electrode and an electro-optical activelayer. For example, the OLED display includes an organic emission layeras the electro-optical active layer. The field generating electrode isconnected to switching elements, such as a thin film transistor and thelike, configured to receive a data signal, and the electro-opticalactive layer is configured to convert the data signal into an opticalsignal to display an image.

A display panel of the display device may include a heavy and fragileglass substrate, and the display device may have some limitations inportability and use in a large screen display. Accordingly, a flexibledisplay device may include a plastic substrate, which is light, strongagainst impacts, and flexible, as a substrate of the display panel.

The display device may further include a touch sensing function forinteraction with a user, in addition to a display function. A touchsensing function is configured to receive touch information, includingwhether an object is approaching and/or touching a screen. The touchposition may be detected by sensing changes in pressure, charge, light,and the like that are applied to the screen of the display device inresponse to a user writing characters or drawing figures by approachingand/or touching the screen using a finger and/or a touch pen. Thedisplay device may be configured to receive an image signal in responseto the touch information and display an image.

The touch sensing function may be implemented using a touch sensingsensor. The touch sensing sensor may have various types, such as aresistive type, a capacitive type, an electromagnetic type (EM), anoptical type, etc.

For example, the resistive type of touch sensor may include twoelectrodes facing and separated from each other. When a pressure from anexternal object is applied, the two electrodes may contact each other.When the two electrodes contact each other, change in voltage caused bychange in resistance at the touch position can be detected such that thetouch position and the like are determined.

The capacitive type of touch sensing sensor includes a sensing capacitorincluding a plurality of sensing electrodes configured to transmit adetection signal, and is configured detect change in capacitance of thesensing capacitor or an amount of charges charged in response to aconductor such as a finger approaching the touch sensing sensor, therebydetermining whether the touch occurred or not and the touch position.The capacitive type of touch sensing sensor includes a plurality oftouch electrodes disposed in the touch sensing area andsignal-transmitting wires connected to the touch electrodes.

The signal-transmitting wires are configured to transmit a sensing inputsignal to the touch electrodes, and/or to transmit a sensing outputsignal of the touch electrodes to a sensing signal controller.

In a flexible display device, the touch sensing sensor is formed in aseparate touch screen panel and attached to the flexible display deviceas an add-on cell type.

When a touch screen panel is formed to have a plurality of layers, aprocess for forming connecting portions of a touch sensing sensor isadded, thereby reducing fabrication yield and increasing cost.

Also, since the connecting portions are formed as minute patterns, stepsmay be generated, and etching process may leave residues which mayresult in corrosion.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only forenhancement of understanding of the background of the inventive concept,and, therefore, it may contain information that does not form the priorart that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skillin the art.

SUMMARY

The exemplary embodiments provide a simplified manufacturing process ofthe touch screen panel with reduce cost.

The exemplary embodiments also provide a manufacturing process of thetouch screen panel reducing or preventing impurities, such as moistureand the like, from permeating into a touch sensing sensor, therebyreducing defects of the touch sensing sensor and enhancing durabilitythereof.

Additional aspects will be set forth in the detailed description whichfollows, and, in part, will be apparent from the disclosure, or may belearned by practice of the inventive concept.

According to one or more exemplary embodiments, a manufacturing methodof a touch screen panel includes: forming touch electrodes on asubstrate; forming an insulating layer on the touch electrodes;disposing an adhesive layer on the touch electrodes and the insulatinglayer, the adhesive layer including an adhesive protection film adheredon one surface of the adhesive layer facing away from the touchelectrodes; and forming a conductive layer on the adhesive protectionfilm.

The foregoing general description and the following detailed descriptionare exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a display device including a touch screenpanel according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a touch sensing sensor of the touch screenpanel according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the display device including the touchscreen panel according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged view of the touch sensing sensorillustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the touch sensing sensor illustratedin FIG. 4 taken along the sectional line A-A′.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating an exemplary manufacturing methodof a touch screen panel according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are cross-sectional views of a touch sensingsensor according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of various exemplary embodiments. It is apparent, however,that various exemplary embodiments may be practiced without thesespecific details or with one or more equivalent arrangements. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring various exemplaryembodiments.

In the accompanying figures, the size and relative sizes of layers,films, panels, regions, etc., may be exaggerated for clarity anddescriptive purposes. Also, like reference numerals denote likeelements.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “connected to,”or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on,connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer or interveningelements or layers may be present. When, however, an element or layer isreferred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,” or“directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are no interveningelements or layers present. For the purposes of this disclosure, “atleast one of X, Y, and Z” and “at least one selected from the groupconsisting of X, Y, and Z” may be construed as X only, Y only, Z only,or any combination of two or more of X, Y, and Z, such as, for instance,XYZ, XYY, YZ, and ZZ. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Asused herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of oneor more of the associated listed items.

Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describevarious elements, components, regions, layers, and/or sections, theseelements, components, regions, layers, and/or sections should not belimited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element,component, region, layer, and/or section from another element,component, region, layer, and/or section. Thus, a first element,component, region, layer, and/or section discussed below could be termeda second element, component, region, layer, and/or section withoutdeparting from the teachings of the present disclosure.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,”“upper,” and the like, may be used herein for descriptive purposes, and,thereby, to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the drawings. Spatiallyrelative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of anapparatus in use, operation, and/or manufacture in addition to theorientation depicted in the drawings. For example, if the apparatus inthe drawings is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath”other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the otherelements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompassboth an orientation of above and below. Furthermore, the apparatus maybe otherwise oriented (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at otherorientations), and, as such, the spatially relative descriptors usedherein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms, “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Moreover,the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including,”when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/orgroups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one ormore other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

Various exemplary embodiments are described herein with reference toplan and/or sectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations ofidealized exemplary embodiments and/or intermediate structures. As such,variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, forexample, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to beexpected. Thus, exemplary embodiments disclosed herein should not beconstrued as limited to the particular illustrated shapes of regions,but are to include deviations in shapes that result from, for instance,manufacturing. For example, an implanted region illustrated as arectangle will, typically, have rounded or curved features and/or agradient of implant concentration at its edges rather than a binarychange from implanted to non-implanted region. Likewise, a buried regionformed by implantation may result in some implantation in the regionbetween the buried region and the surface through which the implantationtakes place. Thus, the regions illustrated in the drawings are schematicin nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actualshape of a region of a device and are not intended to be limiting

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure is a part. Terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in anidealized or overly formal sense, unless expressly so defined herein.

A manufacturing method of a touch screen panel according to one or moreexemplary embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a display device including a touch screenpanel according to one or more exemplary embodiments, and FIG. 2 is atop plan view of a touch sensing sensor of the touch screen panelaccording to one or more exemplary embodiments. FIG. 3 is a perspectiveview of the display device including the touch screen panel according toone or more exemplary embodiments, and FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged viewof the touch sensing sensor illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is across-sectional view of the touch sensing sensor illustrated in FIG. 4taken along the sectional line A-A′.

Referring to FIG. 1, the display device including the touch screen panelaccording to one or more exemplary embodiments may include a displaypanel 300, and a display controller 600 and a touch controller 700 thatare connected to the display panel 300. The display panel 300 may beconfigured to display an image, and detect a touch.

In planar view, the display panel 300 may include a display area DAconfigured to display the image and a peripheral area PA disposed aroundthe display area DA.

At least some area of the display panel 300 may be a touch active areaTA configured to detect the touch. The touch active area TA is an areaconfigured to detect a touch in response to an object approaching and/ortouching the display panel 300. The touch may refer to a state of anexternal object, such as a finger of a user, approaching the displaypanel 300 and/or hovering over the display panel 300, as well asdirectly contacting the display panel 300.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which the entire displayarea DA substantially corresponds with the touch active area TA, but theexemplary embodiments are not limited thereto. Some of the peripheralarea PA may correspond with the touch active area TA, or only some ofthe display area DA may correspond with the touch active area TA.

Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of pixels PX and a plurality of displaysignal lines (not illustrated) connected to the plurality of pixels PXto transmit a driving signal are disposed in the display area DA.

The plurality of display signal lines include a plurality of scanningsignal lines (not illustrated) configured to transmit a scan signal, anda plurality of data lines (not illustrated) configured to transmit adata signal. The scanning signal lines and the data lines may extendcrossing each other. The plurality of display signal lines may beextended to the peripheral area PA and form a pad portion (not shown).

The plurality of pixels PX may be arranged approximately in a matrixform, but the exemplary embodiments are not limited thereto.

Each of the plurality of pixels PX may include a switching element (notshown) connected to the gate line and the data line, and a pixelelectrode (not shown) connected to the switching element.

The switching element may be a three-terminal element, such as a thinfilm transistor or the like, that is integrated into the display panel300. The switching element may be turned on and/or turned off accordingto the gate signal transmitted through the gate line to selectivelytransmit the data signal transmitted through the data line to the pixelelectrode.

Each of the plurality of pixels PX may further include a facingelectrode (not shown) that faces the pixel electrode. According to oneor more exemplary embodiments including an organic light emitting diode(OLED) display, an emission layer may be disposed between the pixelelectrode and the facing electrode to form a light-emitting device. Thefacing electrode may transmit a common voltage.

In order to implement color display, each of the plurality of pixels PXmay be configured to display one of primary colors, and these primarycolors may be mixed to allow a desired color to be perceived. Forexample, the primary colors may include three primary colors such asred, green, and blue, and/or four primary colors. Some of the

Each of the plurality of pixels PX may be disposed to correspond to eachpixel electrode and may further include; a color filter configured todisplay one of the primary colors, or the emission layer included in theorganic light-emitting device configured to emit colored light.

A contact sensing sensor is disposed in the touch active area TA. Thecontact sensing sensor may be configured to sense contacts in variousways. For example, the contact sensing sensor may have various typessuch as a resistive type, a capacitive type, an electromagnetic (EM)type, an optical type, etc. According to the exemplary embodiments, thecontact sensing sensor may be the capacitance type.

Referring to FIG. 2, the contact sensing sensor according to theexemplary embodiment includes a plurality of touch electrodes, and theplurality of touch electrodes may include a plurality of first touchelectrodes 410 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 420. The firstand second touch electrodes 410 and 420 are separated from each other.

Referring to FIG. 2, the plurality of first and second touch electrodes410 and 420 may be alternately disposed not overlapping with each otherin the touch active area TA. The plurality of first touch electrodes 410may be disposed along column and row directions, and the plurality ofsecond touch electrodes 420 may be disposed along the column and rowdirections. The first and second touch electrodes 410 and 420 may bedisposed on the same layer.

The first and second touch electrodes 410 and 420 may respectively havea quadrangular shape, but the exemplary embodiments are not limitedthereto, and may have various shapes and may further include, such as aprotruding portion for improving sensitivity of the contact sensingsensor.

The plurality of first touch electrodes 410 disposed in the same row orcolumn may be connected to or separated from each other inside oroutside the touch active area TA. Similarly, at least some of theplurality of second touch electrodes 420 disposed in the same column orrow may be connected to or separated from each other inside or outsidethe touch active area TA. For example, the plurality of first touchelectrodes 410 disposed in the same row are connected to each otherinside the touch active area TA, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality ofsecond touch electrodes 420 disposed in the same column may be connectedto each other inside the touch active area TA.

More specifically, first connecting portions 412 may connect theplurality of first touch electrodes 410 disposed in the same row, andsecond connecting portions 422 may connect the plurality of second touchelectrodes 420 disposed in the same column.

The first touch electrodes 410 connected to each other in each row maybe connected to the touch controller 700 through first touch wires 411,and the second touch electrodes 420 connected to each other in eachcolumn may be connected to the touch controller 700 through second touchwires 421.

The first and second touch wires 411 and 421 may be disposed in theperipheral area PA of the display panel 300, as shown in FIG. 2, but theexemplary embodiments are not limited thereto, and the first and secondtouch wires 411 and 421 may be disposed in the touch active area TA. Endportions of the first and second touch wires 411 and 421 form a padportion 450 in the peripheral area PA of the display panel 300.

The first and second touch electrodes 410 and 420 may have atransmittance equal to or higher than a predetermined value so lightfrom the display panel 300 may be transmitted through the first andsecond touch electrodes 410 and 420. For example, the first and secondtouch electrodes 410 and 420 may be made of a thin metal layer includingat least one of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), silvernanowire (AgNw), etc., and/or a transparent conductive materialincluding at least one of a metal mesh, carbon nanotubes (CNT), etc.,but the exemplary embodiments are not limited thereto.

The first and second touch wires 411 and 421 may include a transparentconductive material that is included in the first and second touchelectrodes 410 and 420, and/or a low resistance material including atleast one of molybdenum (Mo), silver (Ag), titanium (Ti), copper (Cu),aluminum (Al), and molybdenum/aluminum/molybdenum (Mo/Al/Mo).

The first and second touch electrodes 410 and 420 disposed adjacent toeach other may form a mutual sensing capacitor that serves as thecontact sensing sensor. The mutual sensing capacitor may be configuredto receive a sensing input signal from either one of the first andsecond touch electrodes 410 and 420, and output sensing output signalaccording to a variation in an amount of charges due to contact of theexternal object through the other one of the first and second touchelectrodes 410 and 420.

Unlike as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, each of the plurality of first andsecond touch electrodes 410 and 420 may be separated from each other andbe respectively connected to the touch controller 700 through the touchwires (not shown). In this case, each touch electrode may form aself-sensing capacitor that serves as the contact sensing sensor. Theself-sensing capacitor may be configured to receive the sensing inputsignal and be charged with a predetermined amount of charges, and outputthe sensing output signal according to a variation in the amount ofcharge from the received sensing input signal due to the contact of theexternal object such as a finger occurs.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the display controller 600 is configured tocontrol an image display operation of the display panel 300. Morespecifically, the signal controller 600 is configured to receive aninput image signal including luminance information of each of theplurality of pixels PX and an input control signal for controllingdisplay of the input image signal from an external device.

The signal controller 600 is configured to process the input imagesignal based on the input image signal and the input control signal,convert the input image signal into an output image signal, and generatecontrol signals including a gate control signal, a data control signal,etc. The signal controller 600 is configured to output the gate controlsignal to a gate driver (not shown), and output the data control signaland the output image signal to a data driver (not shown).

Though not illustrated, the data driver is configured to receive theoutput image signal for one row of the plurality of pixels PX accordingto the data control signal, and convert the output image signal into thedata voltage by selecting a gray-level voltage corresponding to eachoutput image signal, thereby applying the data voltage to thecorresponding data lines. The gate driver is configured to apply agate-on voltage to the gate line according to the gate control signal toturn on the switching element connected to the gate line on. Then, thedata voltage applied to the data lines is applied to the correspondingone of the plurality of pixels PX through the turned-on switchingelement.

When the data voltage is applied to each of the plurality of pixels PX,each of the plurality of pixels PX may display luminance correspondingto the data voltage by controlling various optical conversion elementssuch as the light-emitting device and the like.

The touch controller 700 is connected to the contact sensing sensordisposed in the touch active area, and is configured to control anoperation of the contact sensing sensor. The touch controller 700 isconfigured to transmit the sensing input signal to the contact sensingsensor, and/or is configured to receive and process the sensing outputsignal. The touch controller 700 is configured to process the sensingoutput signal to generate touch information, such as whether the touchoccurs or not, a touch position, etc.

The driving devices, such as the data driver, the gate driver, and thedisplay controller 600, may be directly mounted on the display panel 300as at least one integrated circuit (IC) chip, mounted on a flexibleprinted circuit film (not shown) to be attached to the display panel 300as a tape carrier package (TCP), and/or mounted on a separate printedcircuit board (PCB) (not shown). The driving devices may also beintegrated into the display panel 300 along with the display signallines, the switching elements, etc.

The touch controller 700 may be directly mounted on the display panel300 as at least one IC chip, mounted on the flexible printed circuitfilm to be attached to the display panel 300 as the TCP, and/or mountedon the separate printed circuit board (PCB). The touch controller 700may be connected to the first and second touch wires 411 and 421 throughthe pad portion 450 of the display panel 300.

The display panel 300 may be formed on a transparent insulatingsubstrate including at least one of glass, quartz, ceramic, plastic,etc.

In exemplary embodiments, the touch controller 700 and displaycontroller 600, and/or one or more components thereof, may beimplemented via one or more general purpose and/or special purposecomponents, such as one or more discrete circuits, digital signalprocessing chips, integrated circuits, application specific integratedcircuits, microprocessors, processors, programmable arrays, fieldprogrammable arrays, instruction set processors, and/or the like.

According to exemplary embodiments, the features, functions, processes,etc., described herein may be implemented via software, hardware (e.g.,general processor, digital signal processing (DSP) chip, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), etc.), firmware, or a combination thereof. In this manner, thetouch controller 700 and display controller 600, and/or one or morecomponents thereof may include or otherwise be associated with one ormore memories (not shown) including code (e.g., instructions) configuredto cause the touch controller 700 and display controller 600, and/or oneor more components thereof to perform one or more of the features,functions, processes, etc., described herein.

The memories may be any medium that participates in providing code tothe one or more software, hardware, and/or firmware components forexecution. Such memories may be implemented in any suitable form,including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, andtransmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical ormagnetic disks. Volatile media include dynamic memory. Transmissionmedia include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics. Transmissionmedia can also take the form of acoustic, optical, or electromagneticwaves. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, afloppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any othermagnetic medium, a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a rewriteablecompact disk (CDRW), a digital video disk (DVD), a rewriteable DVD(DVD-RW), any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, opticalmark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or otheroptically recognizable indicia, a random-access memory (RAM), aprogrammable read only memory (PROM), and erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM), a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge,a carrier wave, or any other medium from which information may be readby, for example, a controller/processor.

Referring to FIG. 3, the touch screen panel includes a touch sensinglayer 400 in which the touch sensing sensor is formed, a cover substrate132 formed disposed to face facing the touch sensing layer, the firstadhesive layer 120 formed disposed between the touch sensing layer 400and on the display panel 300, and a second adhesive layer 122 formeddisposed on between the cover substrate 132 and the touch sensing layer400.

The touch sensing layer 400 may be laminated onto the display panel 300using a first adhesive layer 120. The touch sensing layer 400 may beformed by disposing at least one conductive material layer by using, forexample, a sputtering method and the like, and then patterning and/orprinting the at least one conductive material layer to form theplurality of touch electrodes and the plurality of touch wires.

The first adhesive layer 120 and the second adhesive layer 122 mayinclude a transparent adhesive material having high light transmittanceincluding at least one of a super view resin (SVR), an optically clearadhesive (OCA) film, etc.

In addition, the cover substrate 132 may include at least one oftransparent glass, polyimide (PI), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).The touch sensing layer 400 may further include a bottom insulatinglayer on the surface of the touch sensing layer 400 facing the displaypanel 300.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch sensing sensor may include the pluralityof first touch electrodes 410, the plurality of second touch electrodes420, the first and second connecting portions 412 and 422, and aninsulating layer 430. Referring to FIG. 5, a touch electrode layer isformed on the touch sensing layer substrate 101.

The substrate 101 of the touch sensing layer according to the exemplaryembodiments may include at least one of plastics, metal thin films, andultra-thin glasses. The substrate 101 of the touch sensing layer mayinclude at least one plastic film. For example, the plastic film mayinclude at least one of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylenenaphthalate (PEN), polyimide (PI), polycarbonate (PC), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyarylate (PAR), polyether imide (PEI), polyethersulfone (PES), and cellulose triacetate (TAC). The plurality of firsttouch electrodes 410 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 420may be alternately distributed not overlapping with each other in thetouch electrode layer.

The plurality of first touch electrodes 410 disposed in each row areconnected to each other through the first connecting portions 412, andthe plurality of second touch electrodes 420 disposed in each column maybe connected to each other through the second connecting portions 422.

The insulating layer 430 is disposed between the first connectingportions 412 and the second connecting portions 422, insulating thefirst connecting portions 412 from the second connecting portions 422.The insulating layer 430 may be a plurality of separate island-shapedinsulators that are disposed at every intersection of the firstconnecting portions 412 and the second connecting portions 422. Theinsulating layer 430 may expose at least some of the first touchelectrodes 410 such that the first connecting portions 412 are connectedto the first touch electrodes 410.

The first connecting portions 412 interconnecting the two adjacent firsttouch electrodes 410 may be disposed on the same layer as the firsttouch electrodes 410, and may be formed of the same material as thefirst touch electrodes 410. That is, the first touch electrodes 410 andthe first connecting portions 412 may be integrally formed, and may besimultaneously patterned.

The second connecting portions 422 interconnecting the two adjacentsecond touch electrodes 420 may be disposed on a different layer fromthat of the second touch electrodes 420. That is, the first touchelectrodes 420 and the second connecting portions 422 may be separatedfrom each other, and may be separately patterned.

The second touch electrodes 420 and the second connecting portions 422may be directly connected to each other.

The insulating layer 430 may have a shape having right edges or apolygonal shape.

According to exemplary embodiments, an insulating layer 430 may beformed on an entire surface, with some of the insulating layer 430removed corresponding to the second touch electrodes 420 interconnectingthe adjacent second touch electrodes 420 to each other in the columndirection.

The touch sensing sensor according to one or more exemplary embodimentsis not limited to the illustration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. According toexemplary embodiments, the second connecting portions 422interconnecting the adjacent second touch electrodes 420 may be disposedon the same layer as the second touch electrodes 420, integrally formedwith the second touch electrodes 420, and the first connecting portions412 interconnecting the adjacent first touch electrodes 410 may bedisposed on a different layer from that of the first touch electrodes410. The second adhesive layer 122 may be disposed on the touchelectrode layer, and the cover substrate 132 may be attached on thesecond adhesive layer 122.

Next, referring to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, a method for forming atouch electrode layer having the structure of FIG. 5 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating an exemplary manufacturing methodof a touch screen panel according to one or more exemplary embodiments,and FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are cross-sectional views of a touchsensing sensor according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

First, touch electrodes are formed on a substrate of the touch sensinglayer (S10).

The touch electrodes include first touch electrodes 410 that extend in afirst direction and second touch electrodes 420 that extend in a seconddirection. The first and second touch electrodes 410 and 420 may beformed by sputtering or depositing a transparent conductive oxide on thesubstrate. A photolithography method may also be used to form the firstand second touch electrodes 410 and 420.

Next, an insulating layer 430 is formed on first connecting portions 412interconnecting the adjacent first touch electrodes in the firstdirection (S20). The insulating layer 430 may include an organic orinorganic insulator made of a transparent material, the organicinsulator is formed of a plastic material including at least one ofpolyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN),polyimide (PI), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA),polyarylate (PAR), polyether imide (PEI), polyether imide (PEI),polyether sulfone (PES), and cellulose triacetate (TAC), and theinorganic insulator is formed of a glass material and/or an opticalgrade glass material.

For example, the insulating layer 430 may be formed by a processincluding at least one of depositing SiO2, laminating an acryl-based dryfilm, coating a liquid type of silicone and/or epoxy, and depositing atransparent insulating material such as SiO2 and/or TiO2.

The liquid type of silicone or epoxy material may be formed by a methodincluding direct gravure coating, reverse gravure coating, micro-gravurecoating, comma coating, slot die coating, slit coating, curtain coating,capillary coating, spray coating, dip coating, silk screen and spincoating, flexographic printing, gravure printing, inkjet printing, andoffset printing methods.

Referring to FIG. 7, the insulating layer 430 may be formed to have anisland-shape on the first connecting portions 412.

Then, an adhesive layer 122 is formed on the touch electrode layer(S30). The adhesive layer 122 may cover an entire surface of the touchelectrode layer and expose the insulating layer 430 and a peripheralarea around the insulating layer 430.

Referring to FIG. 8, the adhesive layer 122 includes an adhesive layerprotection film 124 adhered on one surface of the adhesive layer 122opposing the touch electrode layer. According to one or more exemplaryembodiments, the adhesive layer 122 may be formed to partially exposethe insulating layer 430 having the island-shape and the second touchelectrodes 420 around the insulating layer 430. The adhesive layer mayexpose the second touch electrodes 420 through an opening formed in thesecond direction. The adhesive layer protection film 124 may be made ofat least one of polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Next, second connecting portions 422 are formed on the adhesive layer122 (S40).

The second connecting portions 422 may be formed on the adhesive layerby disposing a conductive material using a method such as transferring,vapor deposition, and/or coating. The second connecting portions 422 maybe formed of a metal and/or a transparent material having conductivity.For example, a thin metal layer including at least one of indium tinoxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), silvernanowire (AgNw), etc. and/or a metal mesh, and the transparent materialhaving conductivity may include, but not limited to, carbon nanotubes(CNT).

Referring to FIG. 9, the second connecting portions 422 may be formed bydisposing a conductive material 126 on the adhesive layer protectionfilm 124, and the insulating layer 430 and at least a portion of thesecond touch electrodes 420 adjacent to the exposed insulating layer 430that are exposed by the adhesive layer protection film 124.

Then, the adhesive layer protection film 124 is removed (S50). Theadhesive layer protection film 124 disposed on the adhesive layer 122may be removed, and the conductive material 126 formed on the adhesivelayer protection film 124. The adhesive layer protection film 124 may beremoved using a method of holding one surface of the adhesive layerprotection film 124 and peeling off the adhesive layer protection film124 from the adhesive layer 122, a method of attaching one surface ofthe adhesive layer protection film 124 to peel it off from the adhesivelayer 122, etc.

Referring to FIG. 10, when the adhesive layer protection film 124 isremoved, the remaining conductive material 422 may be disposed only onthe insulating layer 430 and some of the second touch electrodes 420.The surface of the adhesive layer 122 from which the adhesive layerprotection film 124 is removed may have an adhesive property.

Next, a cover substrate is attached on the entire surface of theadhesive layer 122 (S60). The cover substrate may include at least oneof transparent glass, polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET),etc.

As shown in FIG. 11, the cover substrate may be attached onto thesurface of the adhesive layer 122 from which the adhesive layerprotection film 124 is removed. The cover substrate may encapsulate thetouch screen panel to prevent permeation of external moisture and/oroxygen.

According to the manufacturing method of the touch screen panelaccording to the exemplary embodiments the manufacturing processes ofthe touch screen panel including the touch sensing sensor may besimplified and thus the cost may be reduced. Also, according to theexemplary embodiments, the moisture and the impurities, such as theresidues and the like, generated during the manufacturing process may bereduced or prevented from permeating into the touch sensing sensor,thus, the defects of the touch sensing sensor may be reduced and thedurability thereof may be enhanced.

Although certain exemplary embodiments and implementations have beendescribed herein, other embodiments and modifications will be apparentfrom this description. Accordingly, the inventive concept is not limitedto such embodiments, but rather to the broader scope of the presentedclaims and various obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch screen panel, comprising: a substrate; atouch electrode layer disposed on the substrate; an insulator disposedon the touch electrode layer; an adhesive layer disposed on the touchelectrode layer and exposing a portion of the insulator; and a firstconnector disposed on the portion of the insulator exposed by theadhesive layer.
 2. The touch screen panel of claim 1, furthercomprising: a cover substrate disposed on the adhesive layer and thefirst connector, wherein a gap is located between the first connectorand the cover substrate.
 3. The touch screen panel of claim 2, whereinthe touch electrode layer comprises: first touch electrodes extending ina first direction not overlapping each other; and second touchelectrodes in a second direction, wherein the first touch electrodes andthe second touch electrodes are alternately disposed not overlappingeach other.
 4. The touch screen panel of claim 3, wherein the adhesivelayer comprises an opening in the second direction, exposing a part ofthe second touch electrode.
 5. The touch screen panel of claim 4,wherein the first connector is disposed in the opening.
 6. The touchscreen panel of claim 5, wherein the width of the opening in the firstdirection is the same as the width of the first connection portion inthe first direction.
 7. The touch screen panel of claim 5, wherein thegap is located in the opening.
 8. The touch screen panel of claim 3,wherein the first connector electrically connects two correspondingfirst touch electrodes that are adjacent to each other in the firstdirection, and the touch screen panel further comprises a secondconnector electrically connecting two corresponding second touchelectrodes that are adjacent to each other in the second direction. 9.The touch screen panel of claim 8, wherein the insulator has anisland-shape and is disposed overlapping areas where the first connectorcrosses the second connector.
 10. The touch screen panel of claim 9,wherein the first connector and the second connector are electricallyinsulated from each other by the insulator.
 11. The touch screen panelof claim 8, wherein the second connector is integrally formed with thesecond touch electrodes.
 12. The touch screen panel of claim 1, whereinthe adhesive layer comprises an optically clear adhesive (OCA) film. 13.The touch screen panel of claim 1, wherein the first connector comprisesa material different from the touch electrode layer.